Depends on the country... In the US I’d agree that a V8 above 4 liters is big. In the rest of the world, anything above 2 liters, regardless of cylinder count, is big.

Consumer Reports is one of the very few good sources for getting a good picture regarding reliability. Outside of forums, the website TrueDelta is probably the only other source that comes to mind. That said, it’s not the final authority everything and even the comments sometimes disagree with their assessment.

Maybe I just happen to live in a more secular part of the country, but I had to travel to Asia before I encountered ideas like these. I had a Taiwanese born-again Buddhist tell me he found it offensive to suggest that humans had evolved from primates.

My current car, like my previous one, is FWD with an open differential and has similar brake-based torque transfer tech. In my case the new car seems to transfer the power more smoothly without resorting to abrupt stabs of the brakes. I’ve been managing surprisingly well on inferior factory tires than I had in my old…

I can appreciate wacky, over-the-top modifications. The problem is the mainstream and inevitable one-upmanship. Far too much of US car culture is fueled by ego; you can’t just have a bunch of guys enjoying themselves, they also have to incessantly remind you of how cool they are. At that point this stuff is no longer…

They started selling these in Taiwan a few years ago so I’ve seen them firsthand. They look awesome; better than any minivan and most crossovers available in the US. That said, that grille is a bit much.

I have a commute that crosses vastly different economic demographics and as a result I see dramatically different driving habits. I go from the kinds of conditions you see on Russian dashcam videos to encountering people who drive like every day is Sunday morning.

My state apparently mandates a front license plate, but I’ve driven without one for 18 years and have never had a problem. Given the fact that I keep seeing cars with bumpers missing outright I don’t think I’ll have to worry about that front plate for a long time.

Generally first year models should be avoided, but it depends on the automaker and what’s been updated. Take the new Mazda 3, which has it’s drivetrain carried over from the existing generation. I expect year one to be much more reliable than the models which will get the Skyactiv-X engine.

People who suggest side hustles can fuck right off. Every successful person I’ve met has clearly focused on their primary job. The guys with multiple irons in the fire have always stumbled around, endlessly distracted and struggling to get anything off the ground. Unless you have a cushy, undemanding job, it’s…

Of course, you could always make do without those shows. It’s not like any of that stuff is essential. Once consumers start realizing that they’ll become more comfortable with cutting most of those services.

The problem isn’t just health insurance. The gig economy banks on ignorance. Americans seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding of how much it actually costs to operate a vehicle, fixating solely on fuel costs. In reality, the true net profit is small.

I find it interesting how most concept cars become horribly dated after only a few years. I guess it’s inevitable when you consider that these designs tend to be the distilled embodiment of current styling fads. Still, it’s so much worse than any production car derived from these concepts.

To me an iterative update, even a relatively innovative one, is not a holy grail. There are other automakers doing things that are similarly compelling, but when it comes to ICE all are iterative updates. Some of those, like variable valve timing, offer tangible benefits that leads to widespread. Other tech, like…

While this is somewhat interesting, it’s not nearly enough to know if you’ve got a proper gait. There’s much more to it than how your feet are landing and the length of your stride. Are you kicking back and lifting your feet properly? Are your hips angled correctly? Is your posture good?

I may be overly cynical, but experience has shown me that automation is going to result in fewer employees working much harder (i.e. longer hours). Automation is just one facet of the changing workplace; let’s not forget data and tracking. Employees are accountable like they’ve never been before. If you think it’s…

The RSX is a great car, if you can find one unmolested.

I’ve got to call BS on that. Cars are still very much status symbols, it’s just that what consumers find desirable has changed. At some point land yachts were king, now it’s SUVs. Badge engineering has always been a thing, but technological advancements allow for far more variation on a single platform. So I’d argue…

I knew a couple of kids in high school who got into accidents and the parents promptly blamed the car. As a result they ended up with even nicer cars.

Just because the wealthy have found ways to profit off global warming doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.